Author hopes to bring Camões presence in Macau to wider audience

Eduardo Ribeiro

A new book about one of the most highlighted personalities in Portuguese poetry of all time – Luis Vaz de Camões – is being launched in Macau this week.

Authored by Portuguese historian and Camões-enthusiast, Eduardo Ribeiro, the book portraits the poet and his presence in Macau and Asia.

Published in English, “Camões in Asia” is an overview of the poet that puts together the most important aspects of many other published materials about the poet, most of which have only been published in Portuguese. According to  Ribeiro, the publication is a way of reaching “a broader spectrum of readers.”

“This is not a reprint [in English language of previous books] but a gist of my investigative work about the presence of Camões in Macau,” the author told the Times. Ribeiro’s research began from a previously-written text titled, “Roteiro Histórico de Camões no Oriente” (Camões’ historic route in the East) which has been published in the book “Camões no Oriente” (Camões in the East). It also served as a base for the creation of a timeline of stories included in this new book that address the voyage of the poet to the East. It starts with Camões’ departure from Lisbon in March 1553 and follows his return to the kingdom in April 1570.

The author said the purpose of providing the gist of previous books comes from his awareness that “they don’t have anything. Neither the English speakers nor the Chinese who can’t speak and read Portuguese,” adding, “there are a lot of people eager to know about Camões and who just can’t access the correct information,” Ribeiro noted. Ribeiro recalls that during the 28 years that he lived in the region, he read many things written in the English language that made no sense at all. Much of the “nonsense” that he read did not “just copy some of that blunders that some Portuguese wrote, but they also invented a lot of “new” things [presented as facts].”

The author self-proposed to fix this gap in the literature by writing a book capable of reaching a broader audience and providing a better perspective on the poet.As for the biggest challenges presented in this book, Ribeiro identifies two of them, namely “the translation itself and its relation to the content.”

“It took us [him and the translator] two and half months of intensive and daily hard work to be able not to just have a correct translation but also to grant that the content and what I really wanted to say in my own words would be there,” he said, adding that the book is “my gift back to Macau and to all [this region] gave me for many years.”

The book is based on data gathered in “Asia’s Chronicler” Diogo do Couto (1542-1616). Camões knew Diogo do Couto for approximately one year, and they travelled together back to the Kingdom. The book launch will occur on May 20 at 5.30 p.m. at the Macau Military Club and only a limited number of copies will be for sale at the Portuguese Bookshop. The author has appealed to friends and connoisseurs, who have gone through his work in the Portuguese language, to not acquire the limited copies saying: “Please don’t buy this book if you can read Portuguese and have access to my previous works. I really want these very few copies to stay for those who can’t access the information in another way,” he appealed during the interview to the Times. He expressed hopes that “many non-Portuguese speakers would be present at the book launch and make good use of the book.”

The book is an edition from the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre in Lisbon. Its launch will begin with a presentation by Professor Carlos André from Coimbra University who is currently leading the Pedagogic and Scientific Portuguese Center of the Macau Polytechnic Institute.

Camões’ presence in Macau is controversial, with some historians saying that the poet was never in the enclave, whilst others assure that he wrote part of his masterpiece “Os Lusíadas” here.